Moving Out and Moving On...

packing and packing and packing

I sit here writing this week’s blog in an almost empty kitchen. It’s almost empty because we are getting ready to move. Move to another house in another state kind of move. And while it’s exciting, it’s also a little unsettling.

We moved to this house in May 1997. My husband I had moved 8 times in the previous 9 years of our marriage (that’s life in the military) and we were looking forward to finally putting some real roots down. We built this little home, on a cul-de-sac, in a small neighborhood just north of Atlanta after searching for almost 6 months finding nothing to suit our needs. We immediately became friends with so many of our neighbors – most of whom were young, like us, with small children.

We shared decades of life with these neighbors, who became great life-long friends along the way – birthdays, celebrations, ladies night, church and bible study, graduations, play dates, births, illness, and yes…even death. This neighborhood became our “home” our “family away from family.” I felt down to my bones, that God had intentionally placed us here, in this house, on this street. We felt it was a truly a unique place that was a once in a lifetime experience. We felt so blessed. And oh how we have loved living here! But over time, friends, families, and neighbors moved. We have kept in touch with most of them, but it’s not quite the same. New families, with younger children have moved in and they are experiencing what we experienced 22 years ago. And we are so happy for them all. So grateful that this kind of place exists. We were missing the old days but were happy to witness the new days for the next generations.

So, as empty nesters, we decided to invest in a little home about 6 hours south of us in Florida. We purchased a small, but beautiful place on the water thinking that we would be there 1-2 weeks every couple of months. What happened was quite the opposite. Over the course of the next two years, we found ourselves spending 6 weeks+ at the beach, and a week or two back at our home in Georgia.

What we discovered, was that God has led us to ANOTHER truly unique community at the beach. This small enclave of homes were filled with kind, fun, welcoming people. We became fast friends with many of them over a short period of time. Realizing that we were spending 80% of our time in Florida and 20% of our time in Georgia, and having the flexibility to work from anywhere, my husband and I decided to sell our precious home in Georgia and become full-time Florida residents.

The decision was the easy part. After two years of “transitioning” – which I didn’t really realize I was doing until recently, I was ready to say goodbye to our wonderful community and home. Friends, I realized, were more than happy to come visit you when you lived near the shore. That part was all good. What we didn’t count on was selling our home in three days, buying a larger place in our same waterfront community three days later, packing, back and forthing between two states, packing some more, going to Europe for 12 days, returning, closing, moving and packing and closing again. It was all becoming too much!!

And while a trip to Europe is awesome any time, if you’re looking for an easier Mother’s Day gift idea, Buckhead Tea Company is offering free sample tins of two of my favorite herbal tea blends, Organic Rest and Organic Relax for free with the purchase of our EZ Brew tea maker through 5/12/19. And thanks goodness for our Organic Rest and Organic Relax tea blends. They really helped on the days with super rough edges.

945 Pebblestone Court has been my home for 22 years. I lived here longer than I have lived in any other home throughout my life. This place is where I raised my children. It’s where my marriage matured and it provided shelter to us during challenging times. I will miss this place tremendously. My hope and prayer is that this house provides its new young family many of the same blessings and happy memories as it did for us.

Here’s to the next season and all the seasons after that! It’s time for us to move out and move on. We should all be on the lookout for God’s opportunities. Let Him lead the way.